Private Conversational French Class in Houston

French is the first language of about 72 million people, and about 25 countries including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (mainly Quebec).

One of the Romance Languages, French was originally called Latin and introduced to France when Julius Caesar invaded and conquered the area. After the Roman Empire fell, France was invaded by Germanic tribes (Franks). Although these tribes brought their own language to the territory, this did not displace the local dialects derived from Latin.

This is not to say the Germanic languages had no influence on the local language. In fact, this influence was stronger in the north, than in the south. For a time there were two distinct dialects spoken in France: "Langue d'Oïl" in the north, and "Langue d'Oc" in the south. French kings settled in the north, and as their power and influence grew, so did the importance of the "Langue d'Oïl".

The numerous regional dialects were eventually pushed aside by Francien, the dialect of Paris, at the time of the French Revolution when a law passed forcing everyone in France to speak one language, French. To help retain the “purity” of the French language, such bodies as the “Acadamie Francaise” were created to ensure that the French language would not become “infected” by English words.

French grammar has been greatly simplified from Latin. Nouns do not have cases, and masculine and feminine genders are marked not in the noun, but in its article or adjective. The verb is conjugated for three persons and for singular and plural; though spelled differently, several of these forms are pronounced identically.

Be Bilingual has successfully taught language skills to students for almost 20 years. In addition, our instructors are incredibly skilled college graduates and native speakers.

Be Bilingual’s courses cater to individuals, as well as those in the corporate setting. Each session runs at least 90-minutes in length. Students may schedule as often as they wish, though we recommend at least two 90-minute sessions per week to maximize retention.